Thomas de Keyser. Thomas de Keyser was a Dutch portrait painter, a dealer in Belgium bluestone and stone mason.
He was the most in-demand portrait painter in the Netherlands until the 1630s, when Rembrandt eclipsed him in popularity. Rembrandt was influenced by his work, and many of de Keyser's paintings were later falsely attributed to Rembrandt.
Thomas de Keyser was a son of the architect and sculptor Hendrik de Keyser and the brother of Pieter and Willem de Keyser. He and his brothers were raised in a house on the Amsterdam canal Groenburgwal.
In 1616 he and Pieter became apprentices of their father; in 1619 he presented his first painting, an Anatomic Lesson, but this attribution was rejected; nowadays Pickenoy is mentioned as creator. It is possible Thomas was influenced by Cornelis Ketel and Pieter Isaacsz, for years friendly to his father.
In 1622 Thomas and Pieter became members of the Guild of St. Luke. According to the Netherlands Institute for Art History, he was a pupil of Cornelis van der Voort, the head of the guild, who died in 1624. Van der Voort lived in what is now the Rembrandthuis. The painters Nicolaes Eliaszoon Pickenoy, who lived next door, and Werner van den Valckert have been accredited by different authorities with having developed his talent, and sometimes his works have been confused with these painters, who painted portraits in similar styles. The works of Pieter Las